The present invention relates to a method for displaying text on a single-line display of a text station of the type which includes an input unit such as a keyboard, a text memory, and a single-line display device, the typing position being automatically indicated on the display device by a cursor which shifts automatically during input of the characters of the line of text. Moreover, the invention relates to an apparatus for implementing the method.
It is known to equip text stations such as word processors with a display unit on which a text that has been keyed in by means of a keyboard is displayed before it is printed out by means of printer. Single-line displays are customarily used as display units, on which part of a line or a whole line of the text can be displayed.
The display frequently is such that the characters are written into the display at a given, never-changing position and are shifted to the left by one character position after the input of every new character. It is also customary to write the characters into the display in the manner of a typewriter, beginning at the left margin, to correspond to the displayed text. In this case, a cursor may be provided which indicated the respective typing position. The cursor may be shifted horizontally to the left or right corresponding to the movements of the carriage of a typewriter by actuation of the space and backup keys customarily provided on a keyboard. If the cursor then reaches the right margin, actuation of a carriage return key moves the cursor back to the left margin of the display, with the previous text on the one-line display being completely erased. If a word is divided between lines, the first part of the divided word is then no longer visible. The display shows only the second divided part of the word. For less skilled operators, the erasure of the first part of the word may disturb the typing flow, since after the automatic line feed only the cut-off part of the word is visible.